7 benefits a Portland Domino's Pizza shop gets from its new cargo trike

After "kicking the idea around for a year or two," a Portland Domino's Pizza owner recently decided to purchase a cargo trike for some of the pizza place's delivery needs. It might be the first Domino's Pizza in the US using a delivery cargo bike or trike (let us know if you know of others), but it's apparently not the first pizza place in Portland to do so. Old Town Pizza and Good Neighbor Pizzeria have been delivering via these human-powered vehicles for years, BikePortland.org writes. Nonetheless, each pizza place that moves to bikes and trikes is great news. And this story from such a popular franchise could help to encourage many more pizza places to get some spokes.

But why would a pizza place choose such a route? Below are some benefits Portland Domino's Pizza owner Scott Kealer and delivery expert Dan Comey noted, as well as some obvious ones I'm throwing in.

1. "We've had a lot of people excited about it," said Comey. (I'd certainly be more interested in ordering pizza from a pizza place that delivered by trike!)

2. Of course, transportation costs are lower. Kealer saves approximately $1.15 per delivery. "Maintenance has been low on it and it's really helped out in a pinch," said Kealer.

3. Delivery people don't have to worry about crash liability.

4. Delivery people don't have to worry about getting parking tickets.

5. Delivery people don't have to worry about wear and tear on their cars.

6. Delivery people get some very helpful exercise, boosting their health.

7. Kealer and delivery people don't have to deal with the guilt of adding to global warming and local pollution.

"Depending on who's pedaling, it can be faster than a car," Kealer added.

Of course, as you can see in the picture at the top, Domino's Pizza shops in some other countries have fleets of pizza delivery bikes. Maybe Kealer will get to that level some day.

Have a company that could use a bike or cargo trike for some of its needs? Get on it and make the switch! Then let us know about it so that we can give you some free advertising!